"We cannot overstate the value of the connections it has brought us to fellow designers, friends, and customers all over the world," the designers share. "Instagram in particular has allowed us to meet new people while traveling. The stories feature has also allowed us a more real life immediate connection to our audience, to answer questions on the spot, and to share demos that don’t have to be perfectly lit and curated; everyone expects and appreciates the real life perspective."

"Big picture, the pairing of a social following and an e-commerce platform have allowed us to live in Florida when most of our audience is in NY and LA," they say. "It’s hard to imagine doing what we do without it."

"In terms of its utility as a sales tool, there’s still no substitute for encountering something in the real world," the designers note. "There also seems to be a normalizing effect: lots of people start creating similar looking work, sourcing inspiration from the same places, etc. That’s obviously not ideal and probably helps expedite the impact of globalization in creating more similarity and monotony across environments and experiences around the world."